Women do well in their thirties. They put their bags down and say, 'This is who I am - like it or lump it.' There is a more relaxed quality, which I ….

I love strong women in films that are allowed to play women and not male fantasies..

I act because I have to, because I need to find out whether I can do it or not - that's what drives me and excites me and lights me up..

I hate to say that my mother was 'just a housewife', because in addition to that she has had lots of part-time secretarial jobs in factories and hosp….

I'm not temperamentally into high comedy. I'm not a Noel Coward kind of girl..

Theatre is where my heart is. It's where I can do my best work. And even if I do films and TV, that's what I want to come back to..

Acting has always been such escapism for me..

I'm not a show-off; I'm not an exhibitionist..

We live in a celebrity-obsessed society..

I think when you're an actor and you're drawing on your emotions all the time, you need to be quite steady..

When I was younger, I used to write to directors when I was unsure I could play a role. I'd say: 'You've made a terrible mistake.'.

Literally, I don't know where life is gonna go from one day to the next, and that's as exciting as it is tiring..

It's lovely to work with a group of actors who make you laugh and smile..